Pirate Envy

“Ahoy!” Your typical pirate greeting. Pirates are found in the wide open oceans and the wild and storming seas. “Ahoy!” is the last thing you might expect as a farewell from a citizen of a land-locked country. Yes, the Czech’s are obssessed with the word. You walk into a room “ahoy.” You walk out of a room “ahoy.” You see someone across the street and wave “ahoy.” Bottom line, the all have pirate envy. Why else would they say “ahoy”? It’s not the most internationally used phrase, such as “ciao” (another Czech greeting and farewell- now they think they are all in Roman Holiday).

Not only do they use the phrase constantly, but they have many pirate themed playgrounds. The Czechs, have really wonderful playgrounds. They are spacious, have many different types of climbing, swinging, jumping, see-sawing, slidey and the-type-of-things-I-wish-I-had-had-as-a-kid type of things. Because I have a young niece and nephew as well as going to lots of kindergartens, I have seen quite a number of playgrounds. The majority of them have a pirate ship climbing area or just a large ship shaped structure. Clearly, the good citizens of the Czech Republic long for the salt air and the cry of the seagull.